Portrait of the artist: Wes Anderson, film director
Interview by Laura Barnett

What got you started?

Filming thrillers and jungle chases on Super 8 when I was about 10. I was trying to imitate Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars and, above all, Hitchcock. Watching The Man Who Knew Too Much made me realise that there was such a thing as a director.

What was your big breakthrough?

Making my first proper short, Bottle Rocket, with Owen Wilson on 16mm film when I was 23. Nobody was interested in it except [director and producer] James L Brooks, who picked it up and let us turn it into a full-length movie.

What have you sacrificed for your art?

Well, I’m 40 and I don’t have children yet. I do want to have them: perhaps I already would, if I wasn’t so involved with these movies.

What one song would work as the soundtrack to your life?

If it was really going to be the soundtrack to my life, playing on endless loop, I’d need a classical piece – it would be hard for me to work with a great song playing. So maybe a Chopin nocturne.

Is there an art form you don’t relate to?

I can’t say I deeply appreciate tapestry.

Is it hard to be original in Hollywood?

It can be difficult to get people to take a chance on something unfamiliar – and it can take time to get an audience interested in it, even when the movie is made. There are some original movies I’ve seen that didn’t work for me the first time round: the first Buñuel film I saw, I didn’t understand his sense of humour. But I’ve never had trouble with a studio telling me they thought my films should be a certain way.

What work of art would you most like to own?

It’s a shame to pillage museums and take art back into private hands. But I have always loved Bronzino’s painting of Lodovico Capponi, in New York’s Frick collection.

Which films do you wish you had made?

Coming Home, Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown. There’s no aspect to all three that isn’t great: the scripts, the casts, the filming, the music.

Which artist working today do you most admire?

Richard Rogers, for his body of work and his approach to it.

What’s the worst thing anyone ever said about you?

There was a mean thing in the Guardian once: the interviewer described me as having “my feet on the table and my nose in the air”. But much worse was a review in the San Francisco Chronicle that described my first film as a “mind-numbing black hole with no right to exist”. I saved that one.

In short

Born: Texas, 1969.

Career: Films include Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and Fantastic Mr Fox, out now on DVD.

Low point: “Realising that my film The Life Aquatic had been seen by half as many people as my previous movie.”

Lodovico Capponi by Bronzino

The Playlist blog has uncovered (via Film Music Reporter) a new release of Alexandre Desplat’s Academy Award nominated score from Fantastic Mr. Fox. The collection features unused music from Desplat’s score, recorded at the famous Abbey Road studios. You may remember that a a similar, albeit unofficial release was done of Mark Mothersbaugh’s music for The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic was done during the awards campaign, and that there was an official release of the Seu Jorge sessions done for the latter film aswell.

You can see a full tracklisting, along with links to purchase the collection, after the break.

1. Moving In
2. Mr. Fox In The Fields Medley
3. Trains
4. Side Car Escape
5. Shoot Out
6. Kristofferson
7. Plan B
8. Trains 2
9. Looking For Cider
10. Death Of Rat
11. Whack-Bat Majorette Ensemble
12. Canis Lupis
13. Trains 3
14. Rat Fight
15. Dig!
16. Mr. Fox’s Promenade
17. Three Farmers
18. Kristofferson 2
19. Boggis Bunce And Bean (Reprise)
20. Trains 4
21. Mr. and Mrs. Fox
22. Canis Lupus 2
23. Finale
24. Choir Boys Farewell (To The Puppets)

Amazon

iTunes

Rhapsody

We protest.

The A.V. Club recently sat down with Olivia Williams for their great “Random Roles” feature, and one of the films they talked about was, of course, Rushmore.

An except is below, with more after the cut. Read the full article here.

Rushmore (1998)—“Rosemary Cross”

AVC: Wes Anderson was still somewhat of an unknown filmmaker then. What was it like working with him?

OW: I was still in my “do what you’re told” phase, which I’m still pretty well in. It’s served me pretty well. As an actor, you’re just taking temperature. I am anyway, all the time, and responding appropriately. Have you seen Bill Murray’s subsequent film, Lost In Translation? That was what it was like. I was again cast very last-minute and met Wes, this quite physically and socially awkward man who didn’t really talk to me much, a precocious and intelligent young boy. And Bill Murray. And we were sort of left in this bizarre hotel together and taken to strange locations around Houston. That was quite an isolating experience. Again, a lot of fun, but I didn’t really know what was going on. [Laughs.] Bill was incredibly charming and funny and nice, but we were all in a strange vacuum.

AVC: Rushmore had a major impact on audiences. Did you feel like you were in something special?

OW: I am the worst judge of how a movie is going to do. I always have great and ambitious hopes, but none of them see the light of day. I loved Rushmore. I loved the script. I mean, that is what drew me to it, just the actual piece of literature the script is. But I never thought in a million years that anyone would see it or respond to it. It was an absolute joy that it was so loved and continues to be. The same with The Sixth Sense. I thought, “No one’s going to watch this. Bruce Willis hasn’t got a gun. There’s no shagging. Lovely story, sweet and profound about loss and death, but no one’s going to watch this.” [Laughs.] And I’m on record as having said “I’ve done this amazing movie that no one is going to see.” And then it stayed in the top 10 American films for about six months. So don’t ask me. I’m the most disastrous PR and marketing predictor.

AVC: There’s a great scene in Rushmore when you confront Max on what following through with his schoolboy crush would mean. Could you talk about how you played that scene?

OW: It was quite physically tough on Jason [Schwartzman, who played Max]. There’s a point when he falls back through chairs and a pile of boxes. It’s funny, when people want things to be very truthful and you’re dealing with an inexperienced actor. I’m of the school that believes things like that have to be very carefully choreographed. You need people there to say, “It’s going to happen like this.” And I remember feeling, “This isn’t the answer you want, but it’s the truth.” It was important that the scene remained disciplined and didn’t get out of control. But the other thing, which is the joy of my job, which keeps me sane, is when you get to be angry, you can be much angrier than you’re ever allowed to be in your own life. She’s a bitch in that scene, and I think I quite wanted to be a bitch that day, and I could, and people would say “Cut,” and that I did very well.

AVC: That scene in particular is reminiscent of Dollhouse, where your character also plays it pretty close to the vest, with moments of passionate emotional release. Have you noticed that kind of pattern with the characters you play?

OW: It’s the payoff, you know? It’s why you mustn’t show your subtext at any other time. It’s the fun bit. It’s the fun and games. The thing I get most angry about is when you audition for roles and they give you that scene. And you want to say, “No. This scene only works and can only be done if you have served your time holding your cards close to your chest. If you want me to cry and spray the room with snot and get angry, you’re just going to think that’s an ugly mess.” It’s only effective if you have hidden your subtext up until that point. That’s my philosophy on the matter.

A little story at The Hollywood Reporter about the contenders for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Academy Awards.

Vote for Fantastic Mr. Fox in Moviefone’s Oscar poll!

From Fox Searchlight:

FANTASTIC MR. FOX director/co-writer/producer Wes Anderson sat down with Fox Searchlight’s own lovely Stephanie Allen, the basis of a video series in which Wes discusses various aspects of how FANTASTIC MR. FOX came to fruition. And the film’s now been nominated for two Academy Awards! Watch all eight videos here.

Wes On Author Roald Dahld (1/8)

More after the break…
Wes on the Characters and Actors (2/8)

Wes on What Makes Mr. Fox Fantastic (3/8)

Wes on the Film’s Art Direction (4/8)

Wes on the Music of Mr. Fox (5/8)

Wes on the Special Effects (6/8)

Wes on Directing Animation (7/8)

Wes on His Style and Artistic Vision (8/8)

(the Wes parody is third)

(not-so) Bonus: a harsh take on Salinger — and Wes

Our favorite Wes parody is still the McCain ad.

via /Film, Yankee Racer Magnus Rushlee